Counting Stars
by TheGreatAl
Summary: Mass Effect. Liara T'Soni is a young Asari Scientist who spends too much time with dead civilizations. John Shepard is a man who's destined to save the galaxy.


**Ch. 1 First Impressions**

The first time Liara met Shepard, she didn't exactly fall right in love with him. In fact, she didn't find him very attractive at all. It wasn't that she had anything in particular to say about any specific species, but she had always found humans cocky and rather intimidating. In her 106 years, she'd only ever met and worked with 3 humans, and most of the conversations she'd had with them, if they even spoke at all, were either discussing work or they were asking her about the Asari mating ritual, after which, Liara would make up an excuse and exit the conversation.

Now standing in front of here were two humans and a turian. This was easily one of the strangest thing she'd seen in all her life, and that includes seeing the geth outside of the Perseus Veil after centuries of isolation.

_So two humans and a Turian walk into a bar… Goddess, Liara! Now really isn't the time!_

The trio wore their helmets and Liara could see her own image in the reflection of their visors. She was floating pathetically in a small sphere within an impenetrable curtain of energy created by the Protheans 50'000 years ago. A single Asari floating about in a bubble. Liara would actually find it funny if it wasn't so sad.

"Can you hear me out there? I'm trapped! I need help…!" She remembered calling out, "Goddess! This can't be happening to me!"

The male human stepped forward, holstering his weapon and standing right in front of Liara, curiously watching her and rubbing the back of his neck. "You must be Dr T'Soni… How'd you end up in there?"

"Thank the Goddess! I did not think anyone would ever find me," Liara then quickly explained, feeling her legs cramp from the long hours and her nose had started to itch, "The device I am in is a Prothean security device. I activated it to protect myself from the Geth, however I must have pushed something I wasn't supposed to and now I'm trapped!" She exhaled in disbelief, "Can you believe it? Geth! Beyond the Veil!"

"Before I get around to that," the male human said, the tone of his voice serious, "Your mother was working with Saren. Whose side are you on?"

Hearing the mention of her mother, Liara could not help the slight ache in her heart. It has been quite a while since she'd seen her mother. The last she'd heard was that the Matriarch had joined Saren Arterius, the rogue Spectre, and it had been then that she finally let herself believe that she no longer knew her mother. It's been too long, and the damage too great.

"I am not on anybody's side." T'Soni said with great conviction. "I may be Benezia's daughter but I am nothing like my mother. I have not spoken to her in years."

The male turned to his compatriots. The turian shrugged while the female human simply stared. It was during this silent exchange that Liara noticed that the female human was the only one who was still holding her assault rifle. The turian and the male human had long holstered theirs.

"Any suggestions on how we can get you out of there?" The male human finally asked.

"There is a control panel in the room right behind me. However you must first find a way to get past this barrier…" The Asari Scientist sighed heavily, "T-That's the tricky part…"

"Alright… I'll see what I can do. Don't worry, we'll get you out." The human then reached for his gun and turned away.

"Wait!"

"Anything else, Doctor?"

"There is a Krogan, with the Geth. They've been trying to get past this barrier."

The human grabbed his rifle off his back and nodded surely, "Thanks for the heads up." With that, he led the female human and the turian off the platform and further down into the mines. It didn't take too long before Liara heard the sound of bullets smashing against metal and the occasional grenade blast off in the distance. The metallic clicking of the Geth slowly died out and soon it was only silence.

The silence didn't last though.

There was suddenly a thundering roar that was accompanied by a laser boring through the rock, somewhere in the lower region of where Liara had trapped herself. She closed her eyes in utter fear until the sound of the laser was no more. When she opened her eyes, she watched with an incredulous look on her face as the male human pulled a thumbs up at her and lead his squad through the hole that they'd created.

It didn't take too long for the human to find his way around and it only took him a second to be standing right behind her. It didn't take a Salarian scientist to figure out how to push a big green button on a bare minimum interface and soon Liara found herself falling to the ground.

_Gravity!_

"Any idea how we're supposed to get out of here?" The turian asked.

Liara finally felt that she could make herself useful and quickly pointed out, "There is an elevator that leads up from the central tower!" She then paused and felt a blush form across her freckled cheeks. "At least, I _think _it's an elevator. I'm sorry, I didn't work in this particular sector."

"It's an elevator," The male human nodded towards the platform behind him, "We took it to get up here."

"I see… Goddess, I'm sorry," T'Soni sighed as she rubbed the bridge of her nose, shaking her head as she did, "What's the Geth doing out of the Perseus Veil…? Why… What does Benezia want with me? We haven't spoken for so long…"

"_Maybe_ it's because Saren's looking for the Conduit." The female human spoke up, sarcasm thick in her voice.

"Conduit…? I'm afraid I don't understand…"

Before Liara could get her answer, a low, dangerous rumbling shook the cavern. The sound of a small explosion echoed from somewhere above them. "What the hell was that? !" The female human growled.

"It came from above…" The Turian trailed off, his hands slowly reaching for his gun.

Liara shook her head slowly, walking briskly to the elevator. She could hear the marines following behind.

"Where do you think you're going, Doc?" The female human asked sharply.

T'Soni stepped towards the controls and quickly brought up her omnitool, tapping into controls and working to get their elevator running as soon as possible. "This ruin is incredibly old and unstable. It's sitting on top of a five thousand year old dormant volcano and my colleagues have been trying to find a way to drill a path into the ruins without possibly triggering a seismic event."

"Well shit." The Turian muttered to himself, but his voice was amplified by the modulator in his helmet. Both soldiers turned to the male human, who had all but spoken once since Liara had been released from her prison.

Another rumble shook the walls around them and tiny pieces of earth and dust had begun to rain on top of them.

"Shepard! The whole thing's gonna come down on top of us-"

The male human cut her off, shouting urgently into his communicator, "Joker! Get the Normandy airborne and lock in on my signal! On the double!"

"Aye, aye Commander. ETA 8 minutes."

The Turian turned to his Commander, shaking his head worriedly, "He's going to have to be faster."

Without saying a word, the male human walked right up behind Liara, putting a strong grip on her shoulders. The Asari jumped back slightly at the physical contact. It was only then that she'd realized how long it had been since she'd even shook hands with another being.

"Get this thing moving Doc. We need to get you out of here." He said seriously, voice husky and gravelly. A trait mostly akin to the masculine.

She nodded nervously and typed in the final commands that ultimately got the old, grumbling elevator to accelerate skyward. Liara heaved a sigh of relief as she watched the marines check and load their weapons. It still looked strange to her to see a Turian under the command of a human. Suddenly, there was another low rumble and a distinct, metallic thumping noise in the platform to their right.

"Commander!" The female screamed.

The elevator moved slowly enough for the intruders to casually step in. A Korgan with pasty brown plates and yellow eyes growled loudly as he planted himself right in the midst of a small Geth platoon. Liara noted that his plates were thick. Thicker than most she'd seen. This means that he was probably an older Krogan. The scars embedded in the plates told her that he had seen more battles than she certainly has.

"Hand over the Asari." He demanded. His voice was tired and unforgiving.

The male human quickly stepped up, nudging Liara to get behind him. The Turian and female human quickly moved into positions, guns readied and body tensed.

"Unfortunately we still have business to discuss with Dr T'Soni." The male human remarked casually. He tilted his head towards one of the Geth soldiers closest to him. "You make interesting friends."

"Saren wants the Asari. And what Saren wants, Saren gets." The krogan explained nonchalantly, "Do the smart thing and just hand her over. I promise to give you a quick death." He loaded his shotgun as if to make a point.

The rumbling from the cavern became louder and louder. A loud explosion rang through the shaft and the male human took a menacing step towards the Krogan, "This whole thing is going to come right down on us, _do the smart thing _and get out of our way!"

"Looks like we've reached an impasse." The krogan sneered. "If I don't get her back to Saren, I'm dead anyway."

The first shot was fired and everything went to hell.

* * *

"Was it true?" Dr Chakwas asked with furrowed brows, her accent thick as the words rolled off her tongue, "You managed to get a shot right through his eye?"

Shepard grinned with self-satisfaction as he nodded, "Would've went right through him too, if his plates weren't so thick." John rotated his shoulders, stretching neck, "Tough son of a bitch. Probably a veteran. The scars were old. And you could hear it in his voice. See it in his eyes." His face became serious as he fell into deep thought.

Chakwas looked at him with motherly affection as she folded her arms across her chest, "Well, at least you retired him in style. There are many things Krogans hate, and one of them is dying uneventfully. In any case, you got in a nice shot. Not many people manage to achieve that deadly accuracy to shoot a Krogn right in the eye. It is truly a small and narrow target."

Shepard smiled gently, "It's really team effort. Doctor T'Soni was the one who got him caught in a biotic field. She managed to hang him up like a Christmas decoration 10 feet up in the air."

"Really now?" Dr Chakwas laughed. It was hard for the doctor to imagine the frail Asari scientist of such incredible biotic feats, let alone imagining her lifting a 2 ton Krogan mercenary 10 feet off the ground.

For Shepard though, it was easier, since he'd seen it first-hand.

He remembered standing right in front of the Doctor, signalling her to get behind the control panel. Garrus was on offence while Ashley worked to keep the Geth from flanking them. The Krogan was taking hits like a tank, his shields were slowly depleting but his thick natural plating protected him from any serious damage.

"YOU'RE MAKING THIS HARDER THAN IT HAS TO BE." The krogan growled angrily as he marched towards Shepard and Liara.

The N7 infiltrator fired off his sniper with deadly accuracy. However the tungsten coated bullets barely grazed the Krogan's cheeks, angering the hulking mercenary further. He let out a loud growl and charged head first towards Shepard. Instinctively, Shep grabbed T'Soni by the waist and yanked her out of the charging Krogan's trajectory.

"B-By the Goddess!" She exclaimed, wide eyed, still stunned at the quick turn of events.

"Shepard! We don't have much time!" Garrus yelled back at them just as a low rumble shook the entire cavern yet again, reminding them that they were still standing inside an awakening volcano.

"Clear a path for us! When we reach the top, I want all of you to make a break for it!"

"Aye, Commander!"

The Krogan had rammed right into a pillar and it caused the whole elevator to shake violently. Shepard prepped to fire again when suddenly, his target was engulfed in bright blue tendrils. As if they were alive, the tendrils formed a sizable bubble that cause the Krogan to float helplessly in mid-air.

"Biotics?" Shepard turned behind to see the good doctor cloaked in a similar blue light. Her eyes were focused and her lips formed a thin line as she tossed the Krogan effortlessly into an advancing group of Geth that had somehow escaped Ashley's crowd control.

"Whoa! She's right up there with Kaiden!" Williams exhaled, nodding her head in approval.

"This is gonna be fun," Garrus said with a laugh as he shot dead the Geth that had fallen over like bowling pins.

Liara didn't seem to catch their remarks as she focused her biotic feats. Shepard and the doctor managed to deal massive damage as the Asari threw gravity defying singularity points at the Krogan, pulling the angry mercenary onto his knees, giving Shepard more than enough time to line up his shots, piercing through fast regenerative shields and cutting flesh numerous times.

It felt like forever before the elevator finally stopped and they had reached their destination. Ashely yelled at them to get their asses moving while she and Garrus cleared a path for them. Seeing this, the Krogan let out another growl and with incredible strength, pulled through a singularity point that had managed to tear away his left knee cap, spewing yellow Krogan blood all over the floor.

"God- How is he still moving after that?" Ashley exclaimed incredulously as she continued to put down the resilient Geth troopers.

Shepard saw Liara flinch at the sight of the gore and shouted, trying to get his voice above the rumbling of the caverns, "Liara! Get him up! We can get through this, trust me!"

She glanced over to him, her blue eyes searching his own. "A-Alright, Commander." She said, her voice shaky but her eyes steeled with resolve. Liara pooled all her strength to this one last push engulfed the raging Krogan in a blue biotic field, lifting the 2 ton behemoth into the air, holding him as steadily as possible as Shepard lined up his rifle.

Shepard did not disappoint as the bullet pierced right through whatever shields the Krogan had left and his right eye was obliterated. The Krogan let out one last cry before fading away and Liara threw his lifeless body into the Geth platoon.

"Everybody out! NOW!" Shepard yelled. He grabbed Liara by the hand pulled her in front of him. Garrus and Ash took point and led the team through falling rocks and exploding walls.

"MOVE MOVE!"

Liara kept up with the marines easily enough, and although she tripped a few times, Shepard had been behind her, helping her up and pushing her along. The whole place was falling apart. The walkways were buckling under, with the floors exploding with hot gas. The ceilings fell apart with rocks the size of elcors raining down upon them. Too many times did one of those fall right behind Shepard merely seconds before he'd run past.

It seemed like the walkways went forever before they finally saw the exit and made the final push out of the crumbling ruins. Shepard could feel the ground giving out from right under his feet as he pushed Liara onto safer grounds and leapt, reaching for Garrus' out stretched hands. He heard them yelling something but really all Shepard could hear was the sound of rock crashing together with granite and metal twisting into horrible shapes, sinking underground.

Staying only a second to catch their breaths, the team stumbled outside and exhaled in relief as they watched the Normandy hover right above them in all her beautiful glory.

* * *

"Well, Commander, other than the bruises, looks like you're healthy as an ox," Dr Chakwas said as she scanned through Shepard's preliminary reports.

Shepard smiled smugly, "We already know that, Doc."

The veteran field medic raised a brow as she tapped a few commands into her omnitool, "Oh, and you'd know because of your expertise in the medicinal field, yes?" She chuckled, "You can never be too careful, Commander. Sometimes the wounds don't show up on your skin. Sometimes the wounds don't hurt." She then did a final scan of Shepard's head and smiled knowingly, "Sometimes you don't find the wounds until it is too late. And it's my job to make sure that doesn't happen."

"Of course, Doc." Shepard laughed, "You know we appreciate it. Even if we complain too much every time we're called up here."

"Alright, alright. You're free to go, Commander. But try not to set off a dormant volcano next time you go saving the damsel in distress." The doctor chuckled as she went back to her work.

Shepard thought about her words for a while as he walked back up to the bridge. Damsel in distress? With the way T'Soni handled herself with her biotics...

He cleared the curious thoughts from his head as he made his way to the meeting room. The moment Shepard stepped in, the entire party had stood up. Liara T'Soni stood next to Garrus, awkwardly fiddling with her thumbs as she watched Shepard make his way to the centre of the room.

"Mission Debriefing commences now." Shepard announced. The party sat down and it was the signal for him to begin the first order of business.

"Commander, before you begin, I'd like to remind you that 10 more seconds and we would've been swimming in molten sulphur."Joker quipped over the intercom, "The Normandy isn't equipped to land in exploding volcanos. They tend to _fry_ our sensors and _melt_ our hull… Just for future reference."

With that, he was off the intercom.

Liara was wide eyed as she glanced about the room. Finally, she spoke up, "We almost died out there and your pilot is making jokes…?"

Shepard shrugged almost nonchalantly, "Joker saved our asses out there. I think he's earned the right for a few bad jokes. You'll get used to it."

"I… I see," The Asari nodded awkwardly, "It must be a human thing… I'm afraid I don't have a lot of experience dealing with your species, Commander. Forgive me."

"No worries," Shepard held a hand up.

"I _am _grateful for all that you've done for me, Commander," Liara uttered, "You've saved my life back there, all of you." She turned to Garrus and Ash. "And not just from the volcano… Those Geth would've killed me, or dragged me off to Saren."

At that, Kaiden spoke up, "About that. What did Saren want with you? Do you know something about the conduit?"

"Only that it was somehow connected to the Prothean extinction," Liara explained, "That is my real area of expertise. I've spent the last fifty years trying to figure out what happened to them."

"Fifty years?" Shepard voiced out unceremoniously, and then cleared his throat, "How old are you, exactly?"

Liara looked at him strangely, "I… hate to admit it but I'm only a hundred and six."

"Damn, I hope I looked that good when I'm your age," Ashley quipped, earning a laugh from Kaiden and a smirk from Shepard.

"A century may seem a long time to a short lived species like yours, however I am barely considered a little more than a child in Asari standards." T'Soni sighed, "That is why my research has not received the attention it deserves." She exhaled tiredly, "Because of my youth, other Asari scholars tend to… _dismiss _my theories on what happened to the Protheans."

Shepard folded his thick arms across his chest, "I've got my own theory on why the Protheans disappeared."

Liara looked over to him curiously, "With all due respect, Commander, I have heard every theory out there. From the ridiculous to the truly thought provoking, however the problem is collecting evidence to support them." She glanced down at her hands again, "The Protheans left remarkably little behind. It is almost as if someone did not want the mystery solved. As if someone came along after the Protheans were gone and cleansed the galaxy of their existence."

When she glanced up again, Liara saw that all eyes were on her. It gave her a little jump. It had been a long while since anybody have had interest in her theories and what she had to say. Shepard nodded, urging her to continue.

"A-According to my findings, the Protheans were not the first galactic civilization to mysteriously vanish…" her voice was confident as she continued, "This cycle began long before them."

"Where'd you come up with this theory? I thought there weren't any evidence?" Shepard questioned.

Liara almost let out a condescending laugh. She's been ask this question so many times, it was now like a private joke for herself. "I've been working on this for fifty years. Every possible angle, every tiny shard of evidence, years of analysis. Eventually, you start to see subtle patterns that start to emerge. Patterns that hint to the truth…."

She sighed, "It is… difficult to explain to someone else. I cannot point to one specific thing to prove my case… It is more of a _feeling _derived from a half century of dedicated research." She then looked at Shepard straight in the eye, sure and confident in her answer, "But I know I'm right. And eventually, I'll be able to prove it."

"How so?" Shepard asked.

Liara smiled gently at the innocent question, "There were other civilizations before the Protheans. This pattern has repeated itself many times over. Eventually, there will be one instance that is strong enough proof for the scientific community to finally start considering my theories."

"If the Protheans weren't the first, then who was?" Shepard inquired.

The humans were a curious bunch, Liara concluded. It had been a long, _long _time since she'd been questioned so thoroughly, especially on her field of study.

"I don't know," She said, "There is barely any evidence on the Protheans, let alone the civilizations before them… I cannot prove my theory, but I know I am right. It's in the patterns. The galaxy is built on a cycle of extinctions. Each time a great civilization rises up, it is suddenly and _violently _cast down. Only ruins survive. The Protheans rose up from a single world, until their empire spanned the entire galaxy, and yet even they climbed to the top on the remains of those before."

Liara was now on the edge of her seat, talking animatedly, "Their greatest achievements, the mass relays and the Citadel, are based on the technology of those who came before them. And even after all that, the Protheans simply disappeared… I have dedicated my life to figuring out why."

Shepard considered whatever she'd said carefully. Putting the pieces together in his head. Finally he spoke, "They were wiped out by a race of sentient machines. The Reapers."

Liara seemed to be ready to jump out of her seat.

"I've never heard of this… How do you know this? What evidence do you have?"

"There was a damaged Prothean beacon on Eden Prime." Shepard explained calmly, "It burned a vision into my brain. I'm still trying to sort out what it all means."

"It makes sense!" T'Soni exclaimed excitedly, "The beacons are designed to transfer information into the user's mind directly. Finding one that still works is extremely rare… No wonder the Geth attacked Eden Prime. The chance to acquire a working beacon, even a badly damaged one, is worth almost any risk."

She finally seemed to settled down as she sank back into her seat, "… But the beacons were only programmed to interact with Prothean physiology… Whatever information you received would've been confused… Unclear…" She looked at Shepard, almost as if in awe, "I am… amazed that you can make any sense of it at all… A lesser mind would've been utterly destroyed by the process… You must be remarkably strong willed, Commander."

It was then that Ashley finally spoke up, "Okay look, this isn't helping us find Saren, _or_ the Conduit."

"O-Of course, you're right." Liara blushed heavily, "I'm sorry, my scientific curiosity got the better of me." She then looked rather dejected, "Unfortunately I do not have any information about the conduit, or Saren."

Shepard processed the information carefully and shrugged, "I don't know why Saren wanted you out of the picture, but I think we're a lot better off with you on our side."

"Thank you, Commander…" Liara replied sincerely, "I do hope that maybe my knowledge of the Protheans would be useful later on. For now, I believe I am most safe in your ship."

Sitting right behind, Wrex nodded wisely, "And her biotics would come in useful when the fighting starts."

Shepard nodded, smiling gently, "Good to have you on board, Liara."

"Thank you, Commander…" As she said that, Liara seemed to wobble on the spot. Instinctively, Shepard stepped forward, ready to grab her if she fell. "Goddess… Sorry, I am afraid I'm feeling a little light headed."

"When was the last time you ate?" Kaiden asked, his voice laced with concern. "You've used a great deal of biotics just now too so you must be crazy low on energy right now."

"Dr Chakwas took a basic scan just now when we came on board. She should have your medicals ready." Shepard said. He then turned to address the rest of the party, "Alright, debriefing is over, dismissed."

When the rest of the crew had left, he then returned his attention to the Doctor, "Alright, Dr T'Soni, head down to see Dr Chakwas. I'll come check up on you after you've had your full medical examination."

"Thank you, Commander…"

"Shepard." He said, "Call me Shepard. Everyone else does."

Liara smiled shyly, "… Thank you, Shepard."

* * *

**A/N: **Lots of spelling and grammar mistakes probably. I'll fix it when I have time. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this, I don't have a set schedule for writing these but I'm a pretty busy bee so don't expect lightning speed updates. Do leave a review if you have something to say. The fight scene sucks or MOAR GARRUS or whatever, just lemme know. Cheers. - Alfie


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